Effect of chemical composition on the response of zwitterionic glucose sensitive hydrogels studied by design of experiments

A stimuli‐responsive hydrogel that contains the anionic monomer 3‐acrylamidophenylboronic acid and the cationic monomer N‐[3‐(dimethylamino)propyl]acrylamide binds with cis‐diol groups of glucose molecules selectively and reversibly. Even though such hydrogels have good selectivity for glucose, there are still remaining thresholds that should be overcome to enhance the sensitivity (swelling pressure response magnitude) and to reduce the response time (inverse of 1st order rate constant). In this study, the sensitivity and response time of zwitterionic glucose sensitive hydrogels (GSHs) were studied with three factor DOE analysis. The DOE results show that the molar ratio of 3‐acrylamidophenylboronic acid/N‐[3‐(dimethylamino)propyl]acrylamide and the wt % of monomer in the pregel solution are the most important factors for enhancing the hydrogel sensitivity. In addition, fast response times can best be achieved by decreasing the molar ratio of cross‐linker. The results of this study will be useful as guidelines for the optimal synthesis of glucose sensitive hydrogels. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 40667.